Lesson video

Hello, my name is Ms. Chorekdjian.

I'm so excited to be learning with you today.

I will be helping you with your geography lesson.

We are going to have a great time learning together today.

Let's get started.

Welcome to today's lesson from our unit called Seasons: how does the weather change through the year? This lesson is called Weather and the seasons: summer.

Your learning outcome will be to think like a geographer in the school grounds to notice, locate, and explore signs of summer.

Some of this learning is brand new, but I'm here to help you.

This links back to previous learning you might have done about the weather.

You might also be able to name some weather elements and notice how the weather changes between seasons.

You might have done some simple observations of the weather and used different equipment to measure and map the weather in your school grounds.

You might also have some knowledge about how Earth's movement and the Sun gives us night and day and the seasons.

You might have also explored the signs of spring.

Here are the key words that we will be using together in today's lesson.

Before we find out what they mean, let's practise saying them doing my turn, your turn.

Summer, summer.

Seasons, seasons.

The Sun, the Sun.

Let's find out what these keywords mean.

Summer.

Summer is the season between spring and autumn.

In the UK we experience summer in June, July, and August.

Seasons.

The seasons are four times of year that have different weather, and they are spring, summer, autumn, and winter.

The Sun.

The Sun is a star around which Earth orbits.

It is the source of light and heat for our planet.

Good job, everyone.

I want you to be using these keywords throughout our lesson as well.

Here are the learning cycles that we will be working through together.

First we'll think about why we have summer.

Then we'll think about what signs of summer we can observe.

I'm really excited to get started.

I hope you are too.

Let's begin our lesson for today.

Seasons show us how weather changes over a year.

You might have seen this image before, but it's a good representation of how things change from season to season.

You can see that the photo shows the same area of a park and how the trees and the landscape changes between seasons.

In the UK we experience four seasons in one year.

Remember that one full orbit of the Sun takes one year, which is about 365 and a quarter days.

The length of daylight also changes between seasons in the UK.

The four seasons we experience in the UK are called: winter, spring, summer, and autumn.

I've got a diagram of a tree here that shows us what it looks like in each of these seasons.

We've got winter, spring, summer, and autumn.

And today's focus will be summer.

It is summer in the UK in June, July, and August.

And here are some photographs showing us what summer looks like.

You can see bright blue skies, and you can almost feel the warmth of the Sun just looking at those photos.

Everything is lush, green, and colourful.

Summer comes after spring and before autumn.

Let's have a quick check here.

In the UK, which months fall in summer? a, July, b, April, c, June, or d, August? Pause the video here and complete this check.

How did you get on? Were you able to say that July, June, and August fall in summer? Good job.

Well done if you did.

You can give yourselves a big thumbs up.

Let's learn more about summer.

When Earth orbits the Sun, the places tilted towards the Sun experience warmer seasons while those tilted away experience the colder seasons.

So when the UK experiences summer, that's because the part of the Earth that the UK's on faces the Sun.

It tilts towards the Sun.

In summer, it is the hottest time of the year, and the days have the most hours of daylight of the year.

This is because parts of Earth is tilted towards the Sun, and it's a part of Earth where the UK is located.

The Sun's heat is at its closest point, so it feels hotter.

During this stage of Earth's orbit, this part of Earth experiences most hours of daylight because it spends the most time facing the Sun and least time facing away.

So in summer, it's the hottest season, and we have the most hours of daylight.

It's now time for task A.

What I would like you to do is to read this paragraph and then complete the sentences to help you understand why we have summer.

You can use the words in the box below to complete the sentences.

Let's go through them together.

It is summer in the UK in mm, July, and August.

In summer, the days are mm and there are the mm hours of daylight.

This is because this part of Earth is tilted mm the Sun.

And then the words you can choose from are: most, towards, hottest, and June.

Pause the video here and complete task A.

How did you get on with task A? Were you able to use the words at the bottom to complete these sentences? Let's go through the answers together.

It is summer in the UK in June, July, and August.

In summer, the days are hottest and there are the most hours of daylight.

This is because this part of Earth is tilted towards the Sun.

Good job, everyone.

Well done if you got that right.

You can give yourselves a big thumbs up.

If you got confused with some of those words, you can pause the video here and correct your answers to help you understand why we have summer.

Now we've looked at why we have summer, let's think about what signs of summer we can observe.

We can see signs of summer by observing weather, plants, and animals.

Here you can see some signs of summer.

You might know what these signs of summer are, and you might not.

Have a quick discussion with your partner and see if you know any signs of summer.

It's okay if you don't.

You're going to find out more about them later.

Pause the video here and discuss this with a partner.

How did you get on? You might have used these pictures to help you.

You might have said that the eggs that the birds have started to lay in spring are beginning to hatch, and chicks are growing.

You might also say that those fruit trees that had blossoms on them are now beginning to bear fruit.

Well done if you said that.

We're going to work through some more signs of summer together.

We can see signs of summer by observing weather, plants, and animals.

Some things that we can look out for include, if we're thinking about plants: trees in full leaf.

That means that they're really luscious and green.

Fruit and vegetables start to grow.

And that's because they were pollinated in the spring by the bees.

Summer flowers bloom, like honeysuckle.

And there are hotter temperatures and the most hours of daylight.

Things that we can look out for with regards to animals could be that baby birds have hatched, and they start to learn to fly.

You see more butterflies in full flutter.

And you might also see bats flying around.

So these are all signs of summer that you could look out for or could spot.

Let's have a quick check here.

Signs of summer include: a, birds learning to fly, b, fruit on trees, c, the first frost appears, or d, honeysuckle grows? Pause the video here and complete this check.

How did you get on? Did you say that signs of summer include birds learning to fly, fruit on trees, and honeysuckles start to grow, and other summer plants as well? Good job if you've got that right.

You can give yourselves another big thumbs up.

Well done, everyone.

Here are what these natural signs of summer look like.

Trees are in full leaf.

They are luscious and green.

So if you walk through parks, you might be able to see trees that are really luscious and full of beautiful bright leaves.

It might also be really sunny, and you might have a clear sky as well.

Fruit and vegetables begin to grow.

So there you can see some apple trees bearing lots of apples.

Raspberries and blackberries start to grow.

And there you can see some cucumbers growing.

So all of the plants that were planted in spring, or all of the fruit blossoms that blossomed in spring, were pollinated and started to grow, and now they're developing into fruit and vegetables.

Summer flowers like foxgloves, poppies, and honeysuckle bloom.

So there you can see a fox glove.

Here's a picture of some poppies.

And then here are some honeysuckle plants.

All of these flowers bloom in summer.

Let's have a quick check here.

Which flowers bloom in summer? a, poppies, b, foxgloves, c, honeysuckle, or d, daffodils? Pause the video here and complete this check.

How did you get on? Were you able to say that poppies, foxgloves, and honeysuckle bloom in the summer? Good job.

Well done if you did.

You might remember that daffodils actually bloom in spring, so I was trying to trick you there.

Well done if you got that right.

You can give yourselves another big thumbs up.

You're doing so well keeping up with all of these signs of summer.

Summer is the hottest time of year and has the most hours of daylight.

Remember, that's because of the position of Earth, and that the parts of Earth that the UK is located on is tilted towards the Sun.

So you can have hot sunny days with not many clouds in the sky, and you might see lots more hours of daylight.

So you might be walking home from school and notice that it's still light.

You might even have time to go and play in the park after school.

But in winter you might notice that it starts to get darker as soon as you get home from school.

So that's how you can notice, that it's really hot and there are most hours of daylight.

Although there are still some days that are cold and wet in summer.

Now moving on to signs shown to us by the animals that it's summer.

We can see baby birds learning to fly, and some of them start leaving the nest.

So there you can see some baby birds in the nest starting to grow and get confident and maybe learn to fly.

If you see some baby birds have fallen out of a nest, it's really important to leave them where they are if they're safe so that their mom can hear them.

Or if you think that they might be in danger, or they might be likely to be eaten by other larger animals, you can move them to a place of safety, like under a hedge, that's close to where you found them so that their mother can hear them calling.

You might also see butterflies of all varieties, lots of different shapes and colours, in full flutter.

So you might see lots and lots of butterflies flying around in summer.

And that's when the butterflies have emerged out of their cocoons, and they've transformed from caterpillars into beautiful butterflies.

Summer is a lovely time when lots of flowers are in bloom and lots of bees and butterflies are flying around.

You might also see bats flying around on summer evenings collecting insects to feed their babies.

There you can see a picture of some bats flying around.

If you listen carefully, you might also be able to hear their calls too.

It's time for a quick check here.

Which of these images are showing you signs of summer? Image a, image b, or image c? Pause the video here and answer this check.

How did you get on? Did you say that image a and image c shows you signs of summer? Good job.

Well done if you did.

Bats start to fly around during the summer evenings, and you can see those blackberries and other fruits beginning to grow and ripen.

We won't see any snowmen in summer because it's not cold.

The snow appears when it's cold, generally during winter.

In summer, remember we've talked about the days being the hottest days of the year and there being the most hours of daylight in summer.

Well done if you completed that check correctly.

Good job.

You can give yourselves a big thumbs up.

Geographers observe changes to plants and animals over time and between seasons.

This helps us to look for patterns and understand how things in the natural world are connected to each other.

I did mention that earlier because I talked about blossoms from the fruit trees being pollinated by the emerging bees.

So that's just one way that the natural world is connected to each other.

We can make and compare seasonal maps of the school ground to help us talk about the changes.

So you might have done a seasonal map looking at spring.

Now we're going to focus on a seasonal map looking at summer, thinking about the signs that you can spot during summer.

We can record the signs of each season that we see on a map or a drawing.

Then we can see how the area in our school changes through the seasons over a year, much like this diagram of the tree is showing us how the tree changes between seasons.

It's time for a quick true-or-false check here.

That means you've got to think really carefully about whether or not this statement is true or false.

It says, "Geographers make and compare seasonal maps." Is that true or false? Pause the video here and complete this check.

How did you get on? Did you say true? That's correct.

Geographers do make and compare seasonal maps.

Now let's think about why.

Pause the video here and explain why this is true.

How did you get on? Did you say something like, "Geographers make and compare seasonal maps to help them record and observe changes to plants and animals over time and between seasons"? Good job, everyone.

You can give yourselves another big thumbs up.

Observations can include: writing notes, drawings, recording information in tables, or taking photographs.

These are all different ways to help you record your observations.

It's now time for task B.

What you're going to do is to explore your school grounds and look for the signs of summer.

You're going to use the grid below to help you record what you see.

In the grid, in the column on the left, you can see signs of summer.

Signs like leaves on trees, or leaves on trees being luscious and green, fruit and vegetables growing, plants like honeysuckle, poppies, or foxgloves, butterflies fluttering around, baby birds learning to fly, and hotter temperatures and longer days.

So that's because there are more hours of daylight.

In the column on the right, you're going to write whether or not you spotted those signs in school.

Once you've done that, you're going to use all of that information in the grid to help you to create a seasonal map of your observations.

Pause the video here and complete task B.

How did you get on with task B? Here's how I've completed this grid.

So I've seen the leaves on the trees.

They look really luscious and green.

I've seen fruit and vegetables growing.

And I've seen plants like honeysuckle, poppies, and foxgloves.

So I've written yes in each of those rows next to those different signs.

I've also seen lots of butterflies fluttering around, so I've written yes next to that as well.

I haven't seen any birds learning to fly, but I have felt hotter temperatures, and I've noticed that there are more hours of daylight, so the days feel longer.

So I've written yes next to that.

And then I've used all this information that I've recorded in this table to help me add to my seasonal map that I created last season.

So you can see I've added to my drawing of spring and then put drawings of summer next to it.

So the Sun is really big and strong, and that shows you that there are more hours of daylight and that it's really hot.

The apple tree has got apples on it, and other trees are in full leaf.

I've drawn some flowers that appear in summer, and I've also drawn some butterflies fluttering around.

And next to my drawings I've written some notes as well that help me remember the signs of summer.

I'm sure you've done something similar to this as well.

Good job if you have.

You've worked really hard thinking like a geographer in your school grounds to notice, locate, and explore the signs of summer.

Well done, everyone.

You can give yourselves one final thumbs up.

We've now come to the end of our lesson, so let's go through a quick summary of all the learning that we've completed together today.

It is summer in the UK in June, July, and August.

Summer is the hottest time of year and has the most hours of daylight.

We can see signs of summer by observing the weather, plants, and animals.

We can make and compare seasonal maps of the school grounds to help us talk about changes.

Well done, everyone.

You've been fantastic today.

Well done for joining me and for sharing your learning with me.

I'll see you soon for more geography lessons.

Bye.